One in a Million
by The Altrox
Summary: Now that they have a happy and comfortable life together, Jack and Nami look back on their lives and contemplate the happenstance of their relationship. Was it all just chance, or was there a higher power at work? Contest entry for the Village Square.


**Hey readers, this is my entry for the Village Square's monthly contest. This month's theme is fate, so may the stars be on my side for this one. Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>One in a Million<strong>

After taking out the trash, Jack returned to the kitchen to see that Nami was still washing the dishes. Just the sight of her standing there was enough to make the smile on his face grow even wider. Quietly, so she wouldn't hear him, he snuck up behind her and gently placed his hands on her hips. The act made Nami freeze for a second before she realized who was looking over her shoulder. The redhead sighed when she figured out who was touching her.

"Jack, you need to quit doing that," she said, rolling her eyes. "One of these days, you're going to induce premature labor."

"Relax hun, you still have five more months. I think your safe," he replied. His left hand slowly left his wife's hip and glided over to her somewhat swollen belly. "Do you need help with the dishes?"

"No, I'm almost done." She placed the dish that she had just scrubbed clean out on the counter to dry before getting to work on the casserole pan. "Again, I'm sorry about burning dinner. You'd think I'd be used to this by now."

"No, it's alright," Jack said, consoling her. "It's not like the first time you cooked, when you were intentionally trying to kill-"

"Shut up, Jack," Nami interrupted before Jack could tell her the embarrassing story for the billionth time. "You said you like mushrooms. Again, how was I supposed to know that toadstools were- Jack quit it!" she shrieked as he began to kiss her neck. Her voice had a tiny bit of laughter in it. Jack absolutely loved it whenever Nami laughed. Given how stone faced the young woman used to be when had he first met her, even making her smile just a little bit was rewarding. "Jack, stop it, Lucas is in the other room. What if he sees-"

"Oh, because he's never seen us kiss before," Jack interrupted in a sarcastic voice. "Besides, he's watching TV. We could do it right here on the table if we wanted to, and we wouldn't get caught." Jack gave Nami a suggestive look, but she just rolled her eyes at him.

"Jack, you're such a child," she groaned. But her sapphire-blue eyes told a completely different story. Though she never said anything about it, she was flattered that Jack was still attracted to her, even several years later. That, alongside his friendly disposition was what made him perfect for her. In their case, opposites really did attract.

"Oh come on," Jack teased, "you know you love me." Gingerly turning Nami's body towards his, he saw her evenly drawn mouth form a small smile.

"Yeah, yeah," she murmured. She didn't have the energy to argue with him, but there really wasn't any reason to. She did love him. Jack took his left hand off Nami's hip and brought his fingers to her chin, and drew her face close to his, and kissed her. In midst of the kiss, Nami's hands drifted over Jack's shoulders and into his messy brown hair. They were still wet with dishwater, but neither of them cared.

"Eeewww," yelled a tiny voice. The interruption stopped the couple's kiss, and the two of them saw their young son, Lucas, standing in the doorway of the kitchen. The little red-headed boy was covering his eyes in disgust. "Gwoss!"

"I thought you were watching TV," Jack said to his child, who was wearing his white overalls and blue cap as usual.

"Nuffings on," he mumbled softly. "Can we go to see the aminals, daddy?"

"Sure champ," Jack replied as he left Nami's side so he could pick up his son. "You know, you don't need me to take you to see the animals. They're friendly. They won't hurt you, bud."

"I'm ascared to," Lucas squeaked fearfully.

"Fine, fine, it's alright," Jack sighed, though he smiled at his son's meekness. Lucas barely ever went outside alone, since he seemed to be afraid of his own shadow, but he was a good kid, even if he was a bit quiet. "You wanna come, hun?" he asked Nami.

"Sure," she agreed with a quick nod. She was smiling again at what she was seeing. Considering the lack of attention she received from her father as a child, it was a relief to her to see how affectionate Jack was towards their son. She joined the two and the three of them left the house.

The summer evening had a warm temperature to match the orangish tint in the sky. Even with his parents nearby, Lucas was too skittish to leave his parents' side, so he took his parents hands and walked between them. They walked by the side of the animal fence that surrounded the grassy field. Multiple cattle and sheep were still grazing in the pasture.

"I thought you normally put them inside by now," Nami commented as a nearby cow lowed.

"Well, it's a nice out, so I figured I'd let them enjoy the air for a little bit longer, especially since it's gonna rain tomorrow and everything," Jack explained.

"It's going to rain tomorrow?" Nami questioned in a groan. "Damn it, I was going to go to Mineral Town to buy flour and-"

"Nami," Jack hissed, "not in front of…" He looked down at Lucas to see that their son was still walking between them, unaffected by Nami's language. He just didn't want him picking up bad words at such a young age.

"Right, right…" she muttered back. Eventually, the trio reached the north side of the farm and they turned to look at the enclosed field. Jack lifted his son up by the waist and held him stead so that he could stand on the wooden fence and see all of the animals that were grazing.

"Wow, the aminals are so pwetty!" Lucas cooed happily.

"Yup, they sure are, champ," Jack replied. Just then, a white, puffy sheep walked up to the edge of the fence and let out a friendly "bah."

"Hi sheepy," Lucas greeted nervously. Even though he liked animals, he still was somewhat afraid of them.

"Do you want to go pet her?" Jack asked. "She won't bite, I promise."

"Realwy?" Lucas asked.

"Yes," Jack assured. "Don't worry, I'll be right here." Lucas nodded, so his father picked him up again and placed him on the grassy side of the fence. The young, red-haired child carefully approached the lone sheep, and reached out his hand to pet the animal's nose. Before he touched the sheep though, the fluffy, four-legged creature friendlily nuzzled the boy's chest.

"The animals really like him," Nami whispered to Jack as she joined Jack on the other side of the fence. "Do you think he'll decide to take over the farm when you eventually retire?"

"I don't know, maybe?" Jack shrugged. "It's too early to tell or to make any plans." By this point, the sheep had sat down in the grass. Lucas was still petting its shining fleece.

"Don't you want him to run the farm though?" Nami asked inquisitively.

"Dad would have wanted that," Jack admitted, "but I don't care. He can do what ever he wants, so long as he's happy." He touched Nami's belly again, and could have sworn that he felt the baby moving, but he couldn't tell for sure. "Let's not talk about this right now. Let's enjoy it while he's young. He's growing up so fast."

"Jack, you need to relax, he's only four," Nami reminded him with a chuckle.

"I know, but it seems like it was just yesterday when you first told me you were pregnant with him…" He trailed off with his line while placing his hands behind his head, breathing in the fragrant summer air. "Now that I think about it, it seems like it was just yesterday when I first got here. Remember that?"

"How can I forget?" Nami laughed again. "I remember when we first meant and you started talking to me about who you were and what you were doing in the valley. I thought you were a babbling idiot," she admitted, though it wasn't exactly a secret to Jack what she used to think of him as.

"And I thought you were a complete bitch," he playfully shot back.

"Jack, Lucas is right there," Nami whispered, this time being the one to get angry at bad language.

"Sorry," Jack whispered in reply, feeling like a hypocrite. Lucky for him, Lucas seemed to be napping now, using the side of the sheep as a pillow. "I'm just saying, I remember how back then, if somebody would have told me that I'd be married to you with kids, I would have told them they were insane."

"I would have too," Nami agreed with a slight giggle. "If it weren't for that night during that first summer you were here…"

"Yeah, it's funny how a few tequilas can change everything," Jack agreed. The night being discussed was in fact life changing for both of them. At the time, neither of them really cared for each other, but that night at the Blue Bar, the two of them ended up drinking enough that they forgot about their distaste for each , and they began to talk. Eventually, they ended up going outside and talking with each other while lying under the stars for hours until the sun rose. In the end though, the sleep deprivation and the hangover was worth it as their newly created friendship eventually blossomed into a sweet romance.

"Funny thing is," Jack continued, "I was so wasted, I can barely even remember anything we even talked about that night."

"To be honest, I can't remember anything either," Nami agreed while shifting closer to Jack, who had draped his arm over her shoulders. "But I guess it doesn't really matter anymore. Whatever we said must have been just right if it changed everything."

"Yeah," Jack sighed. "It's crazy when you think about it. Before that night, neither of us really cared for each other. But because we both happened to be there at the same time, and we both ended up drinking ourselves stupid on the same night, it's insane to consider those crazy rare odds. If one of us just drank a little less that night, who knows where we'd be now."

"I never really thought about that before," she said in a thoughtful tone, "especially since neither of us have ever been the type to get drunk on a regular basis. But what's strange is, you can go even further and ask 'what if you arrived here a year later, or I arrived a year earlier?' I only had enough money to live here for a year and a half at most, so if we arrived at different times than we did?"

"I don't know either," Jack responded in an empty voice. "I guess things just happened."

"Yeah…" Nami sighed again. But when she silenced herself again, she looked into Jack's eyes. "The more I think about it, the more extreme those odds are. Do you think that…" she paused so she could choose the right words. "Do you think that that night when we talked was driven by fate?"

Jack laughed, not at the question that Nami asked, but more at her apparent nervousness when asking it. It was as if she was embarrassing for asking it. "I don't know if I believe in fate, love."

"Luck, then?" she asked.

"No, I definitely don't believe in that," he told her.

"Well, what do you believe in?" she asked playfully while punching him in the arm. "Do you believe in anything at all?"

"Well… I guess I believe in chance and coincidence. I mean, I don't think things happen for a reason, but-"

"Jack, aren't luck and chance the same thing," Nami interrupted, laughing at his word choice.

"Whatever," Jack laughed. "The point is, I don't believe things happen for a reason, but if fate, or destiny, or luck do exist… I just feel fortunate that those powers brought us together. I mean, I was never _that _crazy about running this farm when Takakura first told me that it was my father's dying wish for me to do so, but now that I'm looking back at these years, I'm really glad everything worked out the way it did. I mean, I'm making decent money on this farm, the valley is beautiful, the people are friendly…" He paused a moment to catch his breath in his rambling before taking a glance over at Lucas who was still sleeping next to the sheep. "Then there's you and Lucas…" He then reached down and touched her belly again. "And this one… You guys make it all worth it to me."

"You make it worth it for me too," Nami whispered back. "I always loved this valley, but I never expected to stay this long. But now I can't imagine living anywhere else."

"Me neither," Jack agreed. The sky was slowly growing darker, but he didn't feel like moving yet. He was still enjoying the warm breeze with Nami by his side and Lucas nearby.

"But Jack, you don't believe that our life today was brought about by some sort of destiny? You really think that everything that we have and love just happened to come to us by pure coincidence?"

"I really don't know how to answer that," Jack admitted, though he was smiling when he said it. "But you know what? I honestly don't care if this is fate or chance or nothing at all. What matters to me is that I'm more than satisfied with what I have now, so however I received all this, it's all good to me." He reached out and touched one of Nami's blood-red bangs, twirling it playfully with his index finger. "Still, I guess it wouldn't hurt to thank the Harvest Goddess a little bit more for everything the next time I pray."

"Yeah, that would probably be a good thing to do," Nami agreed. She pulled Jack close for a hug, but he went further and kissed her instead. The slow kiss was just as passionate as the one that the two of them shared in the kitchen earlier, except this time, the two weren't interrupted. When the two of them eventually separated, Jack could only grin from ear to ear at what he saw: a beautiful woman that may not have been his if the odds of his life were somewhat different. For how things turned out, he was eternally thankful for whatever the force had brought them together, if any.

"Come on, let's get inside before the mosquitoes start biting," Jack suggested in a voice that was lower than a whisper. He stood up from where he was sitting on the fence and picked the sleeping Lucas up, gently so that the little boy would not be disturbed. He stepped over the fence and then slowly returned to the house with the two people (soon to be three) that made his life complete.

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><p><strong>If you enjoyed this, please vote for me in the January contest for The Village Square forum. Thanks for reading, and have a happy New Year.<strong>


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